A Coat of Blue
by Technetium2
Summary: At Ozpin's request, a mysterious new student joins team RWBY, and it seems he has a few secrets... Starts between volumes 2 and 3. Changes to canon abound.
1. Chapter 1

It was another wonderful day at the illustrious Beacon Academy, where seventeen-plus year-olds were trained to become the most deadly warriors in the world, called huntsmen/huntresses, in order to defeat the hordes of monsters, called Grimm, roaming the landscape. Well, most of them were seventeen and older. There was a single girl, dressed in a red-and-black combat skirt with a crimson red cape, with black hair and piercing silver eyes, who was only fifteen. She had been let into the academy by the Headmaster, Ozpin, for reasons yet unknown. However, the reason for why she was let into the school wasn't on her mind; no, she was more concerned about the cards in her hand and the little figures on the table in front of her. At her, and her older sister's, insistence, they were playing a board game that was a mix of several different games all combined into one. Around the board on the table were four people: the girl, named Ruby Rose; her sister, a golden-haired girl wearing a semi-revealing brown-and-yellow outfit named Yang Xiao Long; a pale, white-haired girl wearing a much silkier white combat skirt named Weiss Schnee; and a girl wearing almost exclusively black with a few pieces of white all topped off with an abnormally large bow on the top of her head named Blake Belladonna. Together, the four of them created team RWBY, whom had been able to take down a terrorist group, a small Grimm invasion, and helped with the capture of the nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick.

"No, no, no, no, no!" But, as previously stated, these things weren't on their minds. Instead, Ruby was frantically rifling through the cards in her hand, searching for a solution. "Ugh, come on cards! Don't fail me now!"

"Hah!" Yang leaned back in her chair, a triumphant smile on her face. "Nothing can stand against the power of Yang!"

"I can't believe how much you two care about this game." Weiss had a look of extreme confusion on her face. "It's so…"

"Irrelevant?" Blake, on the other hand, looked bored out of her mind.

"Exactly."

"Come on you two, this is only your second time playing. I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunities to enjoy it for what it is." Weiss and Blake exchanged nervous glances. Fortunately, they were saved from both the game and their situation by the entrance of one of the school's teachers, Glynda Goodwitch. She was in her usual attire; a white shirt with a black skirt and a purple cape with a riding crop in her hand that served as her weapon. There was a difference that day, however. The eyes hidden behind her glasses were dead set on the four of them, containing a small air of menace.

"Children." She looked disapprovingly at the board game before returning her focus to the four of them. "I have some news for you."

"Uh-oh." Ruby managed to stop desperately looking through her cards and glanced up at Glynda. "Are we in trouble?"

"No, nothing like that; but the news does come from Professor Ozpin himself. For the first time in many years, we have a small... situation." The four girls around the table exchanged glances. "It seems that we have a student without a team, which we cannot have. So, at the request of Professor Ozpin, we would like the four of you to let him join yours."

"A new teammate?" Yang looked over at Ruby. "Guess that would be up to our fearless leader." Ruby went into one of the silliest deep thought poses any of them had ever seen, pointed a finger towards the ceiling, and was interrupted by Weiss.

"Wait! Before any foolish decisions are made, we should at least _talk_ with this person."

"She has a point." Blake, eager to get away from the game, tried to lengthen the discussion. "We do need to find out if we can work with him."

"Pssh! Of course! That's exactly what I was going to say!" Ruby's flustered demeanour said otherwise.

"Very well. I'll be right back." Glynda turned and walked off, leaving the four to their own devices.

"Oh my gosh, a new teammate! I wonder who it's going to be!"

"I'm more curious as to why Ozpin chose us."

"Come on, Blake, isn't it obvious? We're the best team ever!"

"Sure, Ruby." At that moment, Glynda came back in, a blue figure walking along behind her.

"Girls, I'd like to introduce Cyan Kiribati." She indicated the boy behind her, who was still cowering somewhat.

"H-hello." He timidly waved a hand. He was still hiding behind Glynda, so all that the four at the table could make out was the sleeve of his blue duster and the edge of his light purple hair. The girls looked at each other out of the corners of their eyes, then gave Cyan encouraging smiles. Ruby, of course, was the first one to say something.

"So… you're shy then?" Yang facepalmed. They saw the tuft of hair move up and down, signifying that he had nodded. "That's… nice…"

"I'll leave you to get acquainted." Glynda turned to the boy behind her. "Don't worry; Ozpin chose them for a reason." She left, leaving Cyan standing out in the open. They could now see that his short-sleeved duster was dark blue with black edges and was open so that they could see the inside was the inverse. It had a few white triangles on it as well, and the left shoulder had a symbol consisting of a blue, eight-pointed star with half the spikes shorter, surrounded by a black ring. The back of the duster also had a simple black vine design on it that started beneath his shoulder blades and ended just above his pelvis. Underneath the duster was a plain light blue shirt, which contrasted well with his amber eyes, which were slightly covered by his unkempt light purple hair. He also had on a pair of brown cargo pants, and beneath that possibly the strangest part about his attire: bare feet. They weren't even calloused and scratched; in fact, it looked like he had just stepped out of a shower. He seemed to notice them staring, and shuffled his feet.

"Um…"

"Oh! Sorry; staring. Right." Ruby got up and offered a hand, smiling broadly. "Hello Cyan, I'm Ruby! Nice to meet you."

"H-hi…" He tentatively reached out a hand and shook Ruby's lightly. "N-nice to m-meet you too…" Ruby barely heard him over the silence of the room, but she kept on smiling.

"Alright! Ice broken. Come say hi to everyone else; I promise they won't bite! ...Except for Weiss."

"Hey!" Cyan's gaze shifted to the source of the voice, being a slightly aggravated Weiss. Caught somewhat off-guard by his change in focus, Weiss faltered. "Wh- I- Ju- Ahem." She stood up straight, brushing off her skirt. "Hello, Cyan. My name is Weiss Schnee; it's a pleasure to meet you." He meekly smiled at her.

"Hello…"

"Me next!" Yang jumped out of her seat and almost ran over to him, making him flinch. "Hiya Cyan! I'm Yang; nice to meet you!" She, like Ruby, held out a hand, although hers had a rather large yellow bracelet on it. This was actually one half of her weapons, called Ember Celica; the other half was a similar bracelet on her other wrist.

"Um… hello…" Again, he lightly shook it.

"Grip needs a bit of work, there."

"Yang, you're scaring him." Blake lightly pushed the blonde aside. "You're too… brash." She gave Cyan a small smile. "Hi. I'm Blake; nice to meet you."

"Hi."

"Wow; that was the loudest he's spoken yet!" Ruby definitely was not as quiet as the new addition. "He's warming up! Ask him stuff!" Blake rolled her eyes at the enthusiastic girl, but did as she asked.

"Where are you from?"

"M-mistral…"

"Mistral? Sun and Neptune are from there; do you know anyone with those names?" Cyan shook his head. "Maybe we should introduce you later."

"Ooh! Ooh! Ask about his weapon!"

"You have a voice, Ruby; I'm sure you can ask him."

"But he likes you better…"

"I-I like you all th-the same…"

"Oh! Then, could you _please_ show us your weapon?" Ruby was bouncing on the spot in excitement as Cyan reached to his belt and pulled out an intricately decorated combat knife. The hilt was a dark brown, with a small gold-coloured slot that ended with a black rivet. The guard was that same gold colour, and it had a small hinge on one side of it. The blade itself was split down the middle, metal rings connecting the sides and the tip of the blade covering the opening. It also had a dark blue vine engraving on it, presumably to channel Dust, this world's ammunition/power source. The bottom also had a metal ring hanging loosely. "Oooh. Anything… else?"

"Ruby!" Yang gave her a light punch on the shoulder.

"No, it's okay…" Cyan opened the duster further to show a second similar dagger in a holster on his belt. "I do have a second one…"

"Cool! Do they have names?"

"They're called Ivy Mirtilli…"

"I like it! You know, people don't appreciate the little weapons anymore…" Without warning, Ruby jumped on the spot. "Hey! You aren't stuttering anymore!"

"Well, you see-" He was interrupted by a voice over the announcement system.

"Would teams RWBY and JNPR please report to the training arena for routine assessment as they were scheduled to ten minutes ago."

"C'mon Cyan; you can watch us practice."

"Uh…" He put the knife back in its holster. "O-okay…" They started to walk off towards the practice arena, but Blake hung back. Yang, curious, went up to her.

"Blake? Something wrong?"

"Something about that duster seems familiar…"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure. I just… I feel like I've seen it before…"

"Huh. Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out later. Now come on; it's time to stop moping and start fighting!" Blake lightly shook her head at Yang's aggressiveness, but obliged anyway.

They met up with their friends and allies, team JNPR, at the arena. Team JNPR consisted of Jaune Arc, a slightly awkward blue-eyed, blonde-haired boy that served as their leader; Nora Valkyrie, an… interesting redheaded girl who served as the team's powerhouse; Pyrrha Nikos, a crimson-haired girl wearing greek-like armour that was the team's best fighter; and Lie Ren, preferably called just Ren, a black-haired boy that was the team's precision and speed. Together, they were quite the formidable team, and had battled alongside team RWBY on nearly all of their missions. Along with them, there were a few unexpected guests, being Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasilias. Sun was a faunus; a human with an animal appendage and abilities. Sun's appendage was a monkey tail, thus, he had the agility of a monkey, which seemed to come in handy for the sandy blonde. Neptune, on the other hand, was pure human, though it was a bit difficult to tell due to his shockingly blue hair. His "too cool" attitude did prove that he was, in fact, a human teenager. After briefly introducing Cyan, the day's assessment began.

"Students," Glynda was standing in the arena down below as everyone else sat up in the seats, "if you hadn't noticed, we have a new addition to our ranks. The purpose of today's drill is to allow you to get acquainted with his fighting style so that you may work better as a team. Mr. Kiribati, would you please come down to the arena?" Cyan shakily stood up, and walked down the staircase to the ring below. "Now, do we have any volunteers to face him?"

"Mememe!" Nora leapt up out of her seat and jumped down, pulling out her combination hammer/grenade launcher named Magnhild. "Let's do this!"

"Very well. Stand at an equal distance apart, and the match can begin." The two combatants did as instructed, standing on opposite sides of the arena.

"G-good luck…"

"This is going to be a blast!"

"Combatants ready?" Nora tightened her grip on the hammer, giving off a devilish smile, and Cyan merely took a deep breath. "Three…" He took out one knife. "Two…" Placed his hand on the other. "One…" And withdrew it. Instantly, his entire demeanour changed. When the tip of the blade left its holster, Cyan's eyes hardened, and the slight quiver his entire body had had stopped entirely. He put his thumbs into the small rings of metal on the hilts of the blades, and gripped tightly. Going into a fighting stance, his entire focus went to Nora. "Begin!"

"Hyaaah!" Nora rushed forward, wielding Magnhild high. Cyan stood perfectly still, eyes trained on the oncoming storm before him. As her hammer came down, he moved the perfect amount in order to sidestep it, then moved in and hit her with one of his blades. It didn't do much to damage her, but it did set her off balance. He managed to get in a few more blows before she regained herself and leapt back. There was no visible damage thanks to her Aura, a manifestation of the soul that all huntsmen and huntresses used to protect themselves, but she did look a bit worn down. Cyan remained in place, looking as indifferent as ever. Coming to a decision, Nora jumped up high with Magnhild ready for an intense blow. Her opponent actually moved towards where the hammer was going to hit, and fell flat on his back. Nora's hammer came down, creating an enormous dust cloud.

"Yeowch; I felt that one," Jaune winced. "Nothing can stand against the power of Nora." There was a tap on his shoulder. "Huh?" Blake was pointing to a display above the fighters' heads that showed their Aura levels. Nora's was down from full, but Cyan's- "It didn't even budge!" All eyes turned back to the arena, where the dust was settling to reveal Nora standing with her hammer still in the air, being held up by Cyan's feet, who was lying on the ground on his back. Sun and Neptune stood up in surprise, and Pyrrha put both hands over her mouth. Cyan took advantage of the shocked state of all parties and flicked his hands down, making the blades of his knives fall forward. Their guards became triggers and their ends flipped open to create a channel for Dust ammunition. There were two loud bangs as Cyan's pistol knives let off intense shots of blue Dust, making Nora reel back once again. The teenager lying on his back managed to roll backwards from that position, landing on his feet and in a fighting stance once again. Snapped back to reality, Nora turned Magnhild from hammer to grenade launcher and fired off several shots at Cyan, who started to run around the arena's edge. Thanks to the inaccuracy of Nora's weapon, he managed to get in close once again and began to assault the orange-haired girl with as many slashes as he could get off, constantly moving around her so as to avoid any attempt at an attack Nora made. She eventually staggered, and Cyan went in for the finishing strike. Pulling on the metal loop with his thumb, the knife in his right hand shot another spout of dust, this time used as a way of accelerating the strike rather than being one. The force of this made Nora fall to the ground, Cyan following her down and embedding one knife in the floor centimetres away from her head, the other one floating just above her neck.

"Enough!" Glynda's voice echoed around the room once again. "Thank you for demonstrating your fighting, . , I hope you've learned from this." The blonde instructor turned and walked out of the room, leaving everyone else to take in what just happened. The new guy just beat _Nora._ Speaking of Nora, she jumped slightly as her gaze shifted from where Glynda had just disappeared to the purple-haired boy taking the knife from beside her face out of the ground. As soon as it was back in its holster, the terrifying near-soullessness he had had in his eyes vanished, and he smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry about that…" He sheathed the other one and offered her a hand. "I-I-I can g-get… c-carried away…"

"Why are you sorry? That was awesome!" Nora grinned crazily and took his hand, bouncing up off the ground. Cyan returned the smile with a tiny one of his own.

"There's no way…" Sun came up to Cyan, eyes wide with awe. "You can't be…"

"You really think he's…?" Neptune was doing much the same thing, though his mouth was hanging open.

"If he truly is…" Pyrrha was also staring him down, but her look was more one of admiration than awe.

"Question!" Ruby, along with everyone else, had also arrived on the arena floor. "What do you think he is?" Sun, Neptune and Pyrrha all looked at each other, as if trying to see who wanted to explain first. Letting out a huge sigh, Pyrrha stepped forward.

"Back in Mistral, there exists a rumour of a shadow that keeps both Grimm and bandits away from its walls. Several people have claimed it to be a ghost from a settlement that was annihilated by Grimm around eight years ago, and several more have theorized it to be some kind of Grimm that changed to our side."

"That's ridiculous." Weiss put a hand on her hip, looking exasperatedly at Pyrrha.

"I thought much the same… until I began to hear things from the local police force. They talked about how, during the trials of some bandits, the accused kept telling the judge that they needed to be wary of a monster dwelling in the trees. When asked what they saw, all they recalled was some kind of blur followed by an image of bare feet before they blacked out. It's only an assumption, but…" Her gaze drifted to Cyan, who was stealthily trying to get away. "Could that have been you?" He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"M-maybe…"

"What do you mean, 'maybe'?" Sun looked a bit agitated. "It either was you or it wasn't; no in-between." Cyan sighed.

"Y-yes."

"Yes… what?"

"I-it was m-me. I-I-I used to l-live just outside M-Mistral…"

"You LIVED there?!" Neptune had finally managed to close his mouth, only to open it even wider. "But it's just swamp outside the walls! Why would you live there?"

"I-it's not important…" He started to move out of the room again, this time much faster. "I-I guess I'll… s-s-see you guys a-around…" Before anyone could question him any further, he was gone; vanished into the darkness of the connecting hallway.

"Well," Ruby spoke up, a broad grin on her face, "I think I'm going to like our new teammate."

 **A/N: Hey there. Whether or not this will see the light of the public eye, I have no idea, but I just wanted to make something around this character. As you may be able to tell, I've got a few ideas running around in my head for this character, but I don't yet have any sort of plot to put him in. And, for those of you wondering, don't fret; I will explain his origin and abilities next chapter. It may not have been the best introduction, but it was one that I really wanted to do. See you all next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

Teams RWBY and JNPR decided to head back to their rooms after the strange incident.

"Well," Ruby said, closing the door behind her, "that was… different."

"No kidding." Yang slumped down on her bunk of her and Blake's shared bunk bed. "Who was that guy?"

"I'd like to know the same thing." Blake sat down beside her, gaze unfocused as she went into deep thought.

"Don't worry; we'll find out. After all, he did just become our new teammate!"

"Ruby, did you actually tell Ms. Goodwitch that we would accept him?" Ruby's eyes widened at Weiss' question.

"Oops…." A long silence hung in the air as the girl's mis-step sunk in. "Gah! I can't believe I didn't tell her! Back in a minute!" Rose petals floated in the air around the still-swinging door as Ruby made her exit. The petals were part of Ruby's semblance; abilities that huntsmen and huntresses can use by channeling their aura into a more visible form. Ruby's just so happened to be super speed, perfect for this little conundrum she found herself in. The sound of air rushed down the hallway as a red blur went through it, searching the corridors for one of the high-standing teachers. A small gasp could be heard as she shot down one of the corridors, colliding with a certain boy wearing a blue duster. Ruby groaned as she sat up, holding her head. Stopping was a bit harder than going. She looked down to see Cyan lying on the ground, the stars flitting through his vision practically visible.

"Cyan!" Ruby knelt down and started helping up her dazed comrade. "Sorry! I couldn't stop in time!"

"R-Ruby…?" Still a little dazed, Cyan held his head as he looked at her. "Wh-what's the r-rush?"

"I wanted to tell that we want you as part of our team, but then I forgot and now I've got to go find her before it gets dark so that you can have a room to stay in, and now I've literally bumped into you, making this whole thing take way too long and be way too exhausting." She was nearly out of breath by the time she finished her sentence.

"W-wait… y-you really want m-me on your t...team?"

"Well, duh! We just have to figure out how to fit a 'C' into RWBY, and we're good!"

"A-are you s-sure?"

"Of course I am! What kind of leader would I be if I wasn't?" Cyan didn't say anything, but his expression became one of extreme worry. Thinking that that was what he looked like pretty much all the time, Ruby continued on. "Anyway, I've got to go find . Want to come with me?"

"N-no, that's okay… A-also, you might b-be able to find P-Professor Ozpin faster; I-I was just t-talking to him…"

"Great! See you back at the room!" Ruby practically vanished in a whirlwind of rose petals, an air current the only thing to prove that she didn't teleport.

"W-wait!" Cyan called to thin air, "I-I don't know w-where the room is…" He went unheard as Ruby flew through the hallways of the school, searching for the Headmaster. Several twists and turns down Beacon's corridors later, Ruby saw the grey-haired man she was looking for. The hallway was long enough that, this time, she managed to stop just before she ran headlong into him.

"Ah, Miss Rose; you're in quite a rush." The mysterious yet kind eyes of Professor Ozpin peered at her from behind his round glasses. "Is there any special occasion?"

"Um… you see, we wanted Cyan on our team, and-"

"Good; I'd hate for you to dislike your new teammate."

"Wait… he was going to be on our team no matter what?"

"Indeed. The four of you, and your friends from team JNPR, are the only ones I am willing to trust with this… particular individual."

"Really?"

"Yes. Now, if I'm not mistaken, I believe you have something to tell your new teammate." Ruby's face scrunched up in thought, then her eyes widened.

"Gah! I forgot to tell him where our room is! Thanks, Professor!" She bolted down the hall in another flurry of rose petals. Professor Ozpin merely looked on, taking a sip from his seemingly ever-present mug.

"Ta-da! Welcome to the RWBY room!" Ruby had her arms spread wide in an attempt to display the ingenuity of the messy room.

"I-i-it looks… nice…" Cyan was surveying the room for himself, clearly not all that impressed. The other three girls were looking at him with smiles on their faces, hoping to improve the situation. "I-I like the bunk b-beds…"

"See, Weiss? I _told_ you they were awesome!" Ruby stuck her tongue out at the white-haired girl, who rolled her eyes at the gesture.

"Wonderful. But, speaking of beds, there seems to be a bit of a problem there." All eyes looked around the room, coming to the same conclusion at the same moment.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, Cyan; we forgot about your bed!"

"Th-that's okay; I-I-I don't use beds a-anyway."

"...What?" Yang managed to voice exactly what everyone was thinking.

"T-they're just… uncomfortable. I-I've always slept i-in things like trees, s-so…" Another long silence sat in the room as the four girls looked from one to the other, all of them trying to assess exactly _who_ they had just added to their team. "I-I can just sleep o-on the roof."

"W-well, okay, I guess…" Ruby scratched her head in total confusion. "I think that settles that…?" She shook herself then smiled broadly. "So, Cyan; tell us more!"

"W-what do you mean?"

"I mean, tell us who you are! Ooh, or even better, tell us how you did that thing with your feet! Was that your semblance?"

"Uh… n-no, it wasn't. I-in fact, I-I don't actually have a-a semblance…"

"Huh?"

"I-I was born with an i-inability to create a s-semblance."

"Then how did…?"

"Th-the tradeoff is that m-my aura is more d-durable, and I've m-managed to train the a-aura on my feet t-to be nearly indestructible."

"That's awesome! I didn't know you could do _that_ with aura!"

"Y-yeah… I have to a-admit, it's pretty c-cool."

"That's great, but what about the other part of Ruby's question?" Cyan looked to Weiss, trying to look confused enough that she would drop it. It didn't work. "Who are you?"

"Th-that's a bit of a l-long one…" He sat down, taking out a knife and stabbing it into the floor. "You may want to sit down…" Exchanging wary glances, the four girls sat down on the bottom bunks. "I'll get to that," Cyan motioned to the knife in the floor, "a little later. First, I'll start with why I lived just outside Mistral.

"The first thing I remember was living in a small village with my mother. My father had either left us or died, I don't remember which, and everyone there was always willing to help us out, seeing as I was the only child there. It was a nice little life; we were protected from Grimm by an old huntsman that didn't want to travel anymore, the swamps were able to provide a surprising amount of food, and bandits didn't often come near because of the terrain. We were happy… until an outbreak struck the village.

"An incurable disease swept through, wiping out half of us in under a week. My mother was one of the ones taken. She… she died holding my hand. After that… after that, the huntsman took me in; raised me to be one. Then, when I was only seven years old, I was sent out into the swamp. I still don't know why, but in the end, it was for the best. I learned to survive in the harsh environment, living off the land using the skills the huntsman had taught me. Of course, I kept in contact with the village until… until they vanished. I'm not sure if the Grimm eventually overtook them, or they just moved on, but they disappeared two years after I had started living in the swamp. I really was on my own then. The next eight or so years are a bit of a dull story, considering that I was just living in the swamp and occasionally stopping bandits.

"Then, one day not too long ago, someone found me. It was Professor Ozpin; he told me he was out on an expedition to find a good place for his students to train. I stopped a few Grimm that had attacked him, and he asked me if I had ever thought about becoming a huntsman. I said that I hadn't, but that it sounded interesting. He smiled at that, then took me back here to Beacon. Then I met you guys, and I think you know the rest from there." He looked from the face of one girl to the other, noting the subtle differences in expression that still somehow all conveyed both confusion and pity.

"That's…" Blake was the first to speak up, "quite the story. But I still have a few questions, the first one being what's going on with the knives?"

"Oh. Right. Almost forgot. Well, when either of these," he tapped both the knife in the wooden planks and the one in its holster, "leaves its holster, my confidence soars. Not entirely sure why, but it does. But, if both of them are withdrawn at the same time, I go into what I've dubbed 'Focus Mode'. In this state, I'm intently focussed on whatever it is I was paying most attention to beforehand. Unfortunately, it also forces me to go completely silent. My only guess as to why it happens is because of how shy I was as a kid, and as soon as I got the first half of these, I felt much safer; then I only practiced with two, making my stoic-ness a default state."

"That's so _weird!_ " Ruby was staring wide-eyed at the pistol-knives. "It's awesome!"

"Thank you for sharing, Cyan;" Blake was unaffected by the interruption, "but I still have one question: where did you get that duster?"

"This thing?" Cyan tugged at the blue-and-black garment. "Besides a world of troubles, it was the only thing my father left us."

"...So you don't know where it comes from?"

"No, I don't. Sorry to disappoint."

"It's fine. I was just curious." Blake gave him a small smile, and he returned the gesture.

"Welp," Yang stretched her arms as high as they would go, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm burnt out. All this new teammate stuff is pretty tiring."

"Right. I can take a hint." Cyan unstuck the knife from the floor, stood up, and went over to the window. "Blake, Ruby, Yang, Ice Queen-"

"Even he calls me that?!"

"See you all tomorrow, I guess." His arm went to the outside top of the window frame, and with a single tug on it, he vanished into the black of night.

"I like him." Ruby was standing with her hands on her hips, smiling proudly at the open window. "He's nice."

"He was lying." Blake closed the window, both her words and expression making Ruby's smile falter.

"What?"

"He was lying to us. I don't know what he was lying about, but he was lying. Trust me; I know a lie when I hear it."

"But why would he do that?"

"I don't know."

"You're just being paranoid." Weiss, without anyone in the room noticing, had already changed into her silky pyjamas and was getting into her bottom bunk. "You just aren't used to new people being so nice."

"Hey, I was nice to her!"

"Yes, but she also saw you explode the both of us in front of the school."

"Pssh… well…" Ruby fished for words, but nothing seemed to be biting.

"I admit that I may be a bit… biased… but I'm telling you, he was lying to us!"

"Can we figure this out in the morning? Even if Cyan was lying, I wasn't when I said all this stuff was tiring." Blake gave a resigned sigh, then began changing. Yang and Ruby did the same, though without the sigh. They turned the light off and climbed into their respective bunks, Yang and Ruby falling asleep almost immediately. Blake, however, was lying awake, staring at the wooden frame keeping Yang from falling on her. She searched through her memories, trying to figure out where she had seen Cyan's attire before. Coming up with nothing yet again, she rolled over and attempted to sleep, the feeling that he had lied nagging at her the entire time.

Not too far above, Cyan was staring up at the stars, lost in thought. He looked across his chest to see the blue of his duster staring back at him. He picked it up just enough so that the small white triangles entered his vision. He dropped it and rolled onto his side, hands cushioning his head.

"This m-might be tough…" He closed his eyes and fell into an uncomfortable sleep, thoughts flitting between then, now, and what could be. Above, the broken moon shone its reflected light down on the single figure on the rooftop; now part of a group, but still very much alone.

 **A/N: And that pretty much ends what I've got! There are a few things that I want to reveal later if I decide to continue with this, but I don't really have a plot in mind, just the character. If you think you've got a good idea that he could fit into, you can ask to use him or give me the plot so we can collaborate through PM. Otherwise, tell me what you thought, if you want me to continue, or if it's decent the way it is now. Not the best introduction, but that's what you get when you draw out the character before coming up with his personality. See you guys later!**


	3. Chapter 3

It had been around a week since Cyan had joined team RWBY, and he was fitting in quite well. It almost felt as if there were another Ren around, only this one didn't have his own Nora to talk with. Speaking of Nora, she was currently in the middle of one of her wild stories. Teams RWBY and JNPR were in the middle of lunch; most of them just quietly eating their lunches, with Yang, Ren, and Cyan the only ones even slightly paying attention to Nora's ecstatically told tale.

"...Then out of the trees came four King Taijitu!"

"Boarbatusks." Ren, only paying partial attention to his friend, corrected in an exhausted tone.

"Their eight heads tried to confuse us," she didn't even seem to hear what Ren had said, "but they were no match for Magnhild! With that, I had saved the village-"

"Travelling merchant."

"And got one thousand Lien as payment!"

"Fifty." Ren sighed. "I don't really know why this is one of her favourite stories to tell; it's probably her most mundane mission."

"The way you try to tell it, sure!"

"Um… I-I liked it both w-ways…"

"Cyan, you don't have to try and please everybody, you know." Now that Nora's story had ended, Yang was able to focus on other things.

"I-I know…"

"Well, I think it's an admirable quality." Pyrrha smiled at Cyan, who returned the expression.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing; I just said he didn't have to. Besides," she gave the slightly shaky teenager a slap on the shoulder that nearly sent him smashing into the table, "I'm trying to toughen him up."

"But why? He beat _me_ in a fight!"

"Not that kind of tough, Nora; the… confidence kind of tough."

"OOOOOOHHHH… like Jaune and Pyrrha, but without fighting!"

"Yeah."

"Hey!" Jaune's fork clattered against his plate, "My confidence is fine!" He got silent stares from everyone at the table. "What?"

"'Fine' is a strong word…"

"Glad to know you all think so highly of me…" Pyrrha put a comforting hand on Jaune's shoulder.

"I see you are all enjoying your lunch." Ozpin approached their table, a sour-looking Glynda close behind. "Might I borrow your leaders for a moment?" Both teams looked to Ruby and Jaune questioningly. "I assure you, they are not in trouble."

"Uhhh… okay… c'mon, Jaune." The team leaders warily got up out of their seats and followed the headmaster to a place just out of earshot of their comrades.

"So, how is he fitting in?"

"Huh? Who?"

"The new member of team RWBY; has he made friends on both teams?"

"Oh; yeah! I mean, he talks less than Ren, but we all like him. Especially Nora, for some reason…"

"And he's doing _really_ well on our team; it's almost like he was always there." As Ruby said that, she could swear she saw relief flit across Ozpin's face, despite his expression staying unchanged.

"Good. We wouldn't want anyone to feel unwelcome."

"Is that the only thing you wanted us for, Professor?"

"Unfortunately not, Mr. Arc. While I wish a new member could be integrated into a team so easily, it is never that simple. Cyan may have gotten into all of your good graces, but he has yet to fight alongside his new friends. Because he was not here for initial team missions, I am sending both of your teams on a small expedition to eliminate some Grimm just outside Vale."

"Hold on… both our teams? We have to go too?"

"Indeed. There are simply too many Grimm for one first-year team to handle alone, and seeing as your two teams are close to one another, your team was the natural choice."

"I guess that makes sense."

"You may want to inform your teammates; you all leave tomorrow morning." The two leaders both gave a nod and went back to their table to relay what Ozpin had wanted.

"Are you sure about this?" Glynda took a step forward, aligning herself alongside the headmaster. "You could have just left him for Haven."

"No, I couldn't. Besides, I wouldn't want to take him away from his new friends." Glynda gave a small growl, which Ozpin chuckled at.

"But don't you think it's a risk? If she finds out-"

"If she finds out, then she will have to deal with it in whatever way she finds appropriate. I believe she will make the right choice."

"If you say so…" They both looked at Cyan, who was looking terrified of what Ruby had told them all a little too enthusiastically.

The next day found team RWBY walking through the halls towards the shuttle landing, a very excited Ruby taking the lead.

"C'mon you guys; Jaune and the others are already there!"

"Uh… R-Ruby?"

"Hm?"

"W-why are you so ch-cheery?"

"How could I not be? We're going to save people, fight monsters, and become a better team!" Cyan raised an eyebrow, but said nothing further.

"Don't worry; our leader may be a bit over-enthusiastic, but she knows what she's talking about." Cyan turned to Blake with the same skeptical look, and continued to stay silent. Yang gave a small chuckle, then slapped him on the back with a little too much force.

"You'll be used to it in no time."

"S-Sure..."

"Hi guys!" Ruby jumped, waving at team JNPR as her own squad approached the airship parked just on the edge of Beacon. The other team waved back, looking very eager to be moving out. "You all ready?!"

"Of course!" Nora was just as enthusiastic as team RWBY's leader, if not more so. "We're always ready to fight monsters!" The two huntresses high-fived.

"I don't know about that, but we're definitely as ready as we're going to be." Jaune scratched the back of his head with a smile on his face. "At least we get to miss some classes..."

"That's the spirit, Jaune!" Ruby patted the swordsman on the shoulder as she skipped her way onto the airship. "Now let's go!" Several chuckles at the girl's enthusiasm came from various members of the teams. They all followed her, and the two first-year teams were off. The airship ride to the small town just outside of Vale was relatively quiet; well, quiet for RWBY and JNPR. Ruby and Nora were chattering the whole time, Yang was constantly butting in with puns, everyone groaned every time Yang made said puns, and Cyan jumped every time his name was mentioned. However, an oddity became more and more apparent as the ride went on: Blake. She was quiet, which wouldn't have been too strange, except that she was entirely silent. Normally, the faunus would at least laugh at her leader's antics or roll her eyes at something Weiss had said, but she didn't make so much as a squeak. Instead, she was staring intently at Cyan, who was too wrapped up in watching the pure, unadulterated energy that came with having Nora and Ruby in the same room to notice. Weiss and Pyrrha, however, did notice. The two girls kept glancing from the girl in black to the boy in blue, one of them at least partially aware of what was going on. Just as Pyrrha became concerned enough to try and ask, there was a loud thump that rocked the entire airship.

"We have arrived," the pilot called from his seat. "I'll be back to pick you up in a week; be ready to leave then." Before anyone had a chance to respond, the doors of the ship opened, and the members in back barely made out the pilot jabbing his thumb in the direction of the doors. Taking the hint, they all got out of the aircraft, which immediately took off back to Vale. The teams then turned their attention on the small town in front of them.

It was miniscule compared to the immaculate city they were used to, but it was still relatively large for a place outside the kingdoms. There were several small homes scattered around the landscape, with the occasional community facility in between. The center of the small town had a fountain, a statue in the middle of it similar to the one standing in front of Beacon, although this one was much smaller. Everyone, barring Cyan, looked around the town in awe, a few of them never having seen any settlements before, the others never having seen large settlements this stable before. Immediately after they landed, a brown-haired woman wearing an old green dress came running up to them, an enormous smile on her face.

"Hello! Are you the ones from Beacon?"

"Yep! I'm Ruby, leader of team RWBY, and they're team JNPR!" The ever-optimistic leader waved her arms, indicating both the rest of her team and the other one present. They all either smiled or waved at the woman, who gave a relieved sigh after looking them all over.

"Thank you all for coming. There have been a lot of Grimm attacks lately; much more than we're used to. We were hoping Beacon would be willing to do something about it."

"Of course." Jaune stepped forward, a small quiver in his step that somehow didn't come out in his voice. "Just point us in the right direction and we'll do what we can." Relief seemed to flood over the woman, her entire body relaxing slightly.

"Then please, follow me; I'll show you the inn you can stay at while you're all here." Without waiting for confirmation, the woman turned around and started walking. Ruby, Nora, and Cyan immediately followed her, while Jaune looked back to the rest of the teens before the rest of them set off. After about a minute of silence, Weiss had a thought.

"Pardon me, but can I ask how you have all defended yourselves out here? Does your town have a hunter or some other form of defense?"

"Nope; you hit the nail on the head. Our town has a team of hunters that normally guard it, but their leader recently caught a nasty fever." The shiver that went across Cyan was almost audible. "Since he hasn't been able to fight, the team hasn't been quite as coordinated. Because of that, instead of taking down the Alpha as quickly as they can, like they normally would, they've just been keeping Grimm from getting into the town. Actually, they're out doing that right now."

"U-Um..." Most eyes turned to Cyan, who had meekly raised his hand despite the woman being unable to see it. "What kind of f... f-fever does he h-have?"

"Oh, it's nothing much; just a stomach flu. It certainly won't kill him, but it is bad enough to keep the poor man in bed."

"H-have you tried ginger?"

"You know, that was one of my first thoughts, but we couldn't find any."

"Oh! H-here, I think I have s-some..." The purple-haired youth reached inside the back of his coat, rummaging around for a second before producing a small root from some hidden pouch. "I-If you can put it in t-tea, it should last l-longer and be easier to d-digest. I-If I had some p-peppermint, I'd say do the s-same with that. A-also, lots of water, and a d-diet of bananas, a-applesauce, rice, and t-toast." The other huntsmen and huntresses stared at him curiously, while the woman simply smiled and took the ginger from him.

"Thank you very much, young man. I'll be sure to tell the others." Cyan grinned sheepishly, returning to his lightly crouched, obviously trying-to-hide-from-public stance. "Come on; the inn's just over here." They continued on their way, with a few of the boy's teammates giving him occasional quick glances.

After they had gotten their rooms at the relatively small inn, the group decided to have a meeting about how they were going to handle the Grimm. So, in order to try and not scare the villagers, the two teams decided to meet in one of the rooms team RWBY had gotten for themselves (there were only two beds per room). They were all scattered around the room, Ren, Jaune, Yang, and Blake sitting on the beds; Weiss and Pyrrha sitting in the two armchairs provided, and Cyan, Nora, and Ruby sitting on the floor.

"So we're all in agreement, then?" Weiss looked around at the gathered friends. "Tomorrow, we ask the other hunters what they know about this group of Grimm, then find the Alpha?" Everyone nodded. "Good."

"Are we done with the boring stuff now?" Nora was rotating in place, her previously bored expression slowly turning to a smile.

"Yes, Nora."

"Whoo!" She stopped spinning, only to sit up on her knees. "Now for the fun stuff! Cyan!" She dramatically pointed a finger at the boy, who jumped as she did so. As soon as he looked at her, she got on all fours and crawled over to him faster than humanly possible, getting very close to his face. "What do you know?"

"Um... w-what?"

"I think what Nora means," Pyrrha interjected, "is how did you know exactly what to do about that sick man? You said those medicinal instructions like they were second nature, and you had that ginger on you; why?"

"O-oh, that. W-well, when I lived i-in the wild, I-I had to find natural c-cures to any kind of d-disease that I might c-come across. P-plus, after that disease i-in my village, I d-didn't want something l-like that to happen a-again, so I-I learned what I c-could from travellers." The answer seemed to satisfy Nora, who backed off, only to suddenly gain a devious grin and survey the faces of everyone there.

"Nora..." Jaune slowly held up an arm in defense. "What are you thinking?"

"This is like a big sleepover, right?" Jaune gave a hesitant nod, Ruby started bouncing on the spot, smiling like a maniac, and everyone else just stared at Nora. "Then..." Blake, Cyan, and Pyrrha saw her reach behind her back. "Pillowfight!" The fluffy cushion flew across the room, slamming an unsuspecting Ren in the face. Before it could fully fall off of the ninja's head, his hand shot up, grabbed the pillow, and threw it right back at Nora, who dodged it, causing the flying headrest to collide with Ruby. At that point, nearly everyone grabbed a pillow of their own. Weiss mostly took one as defense, Yang went all out with any soft thing that was nearby, Ruby and Nora ran around the room hitting whomever they came across, Pyrrha, Ren, and Jaune started throwing the soft objects around the room, and even Blake took up arms, using her semblance to avoid as many pillows as possible. Cyan was the only one who didn't grab one. Instead, he sat off to the side and avoided any that came his way, amber eyes looking around the room, obviously calculating something. This did not sit well with Nora. "Hey! You!" She threw the biggest pillow in the room at him, which collided with the wall as he moved out of the way. "Get over here!"

"I-I'd rather n-not..."

"Not an option!" She pulled another one out from who-knows-where, running at him and swinging wildly. He moved out of the way of every swipe of the down object, Nora clearly becoming more frustrated every time she missed. However, that disappeared when he started laughing. It was meek; barely audible amongst the other teenagers' laughter, but it was there, just like his normal voice. As the warrior brought her weapon around in a circle, she was startled when a rough pair of hands collided with her wrists, stopping the flailing object in its tracks.

"O-okay... I-I'll play..." Nora grinned, then tripped him. Well, tried to. Instead of her foot sweeping his leg out from under him, she was met with what felt like a steel wall as Cyan blocked with his own foot. In a swift movement that Nora barely saw, he took the pillow from her hand and hit her over the head with it. He ran over into the other fray that was currently in progress, Nora grabbing a pillow and chasing after him.

An hour later, they were all back to sitting down, half of them completely exhausted. Ruby and Nora still wanted to keep going, but they were wise enough to know when something was over.

"If we're all done with this," Weiss wasn't too tired, as she had tried to hide most of the time, "then I suggest we all get some sleep." Everyone silently agreed, the people who were in the wrong room standing up. They all turned to the door-

"Hold on!" Everyone turned to Yang, who had a devilish grin. "If this is a sleepover, then there's still one more thing to do." They all exchanged glances. "Truth or dare." The reception was... mixed, to be sure. Some of them paled, some grinned, and others blushed. Yang cracked her knuckles, daring anyone to leave or object. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake cautiously sat back down, staring fearfully at the blonde. Nora eagerly jumped back to her place on the floor, and the other three of her team stayed standing. Cyan, however, decided to act. He pulled one of his daggers out of its holster, giving the brawler a cocky smile. She raised an eyebrow at him. There was a small click as the tip of the dagger swung open, then an ear-splitting bang as the Dust cartridge in it went off, creating a cloud in front of the blue-clad boy. Yang instantly shot up and ran into the smoke, swinging an arm forward to grab him. She felt the fabric of his coat brush by as he ran out the door, slamming it behind him. Unfortunately, her arm kept going and hit the door, warping both the wood and the hinges. "Whoops."

"Yang!" Ruby walked up to her sister, crossing her arms and pouting up at the blonde. "Fix it! Right now!"

"How? We don't have anything to fix it with."

"Oh... yeah... forgot about that part. Well, then you pay someone else to fix it!"

"I was going to do that in the morning, Ruby."

"Fine. But I'm watching you." The red girl walked backwards and sat down, never taking her eyes off her older sister. This continued as Yang went back and sat on the bed, sighing.

"This sucks. I wanted to do truth-or-dare to help us know Cyan better."

"...Huh. That actually sounds like it might have worked." Blake put a hand on her chin, looking at the slightly broken door.

"Actually, now that he isn't here, I wanted to ask you something, Blake." All eyes turned to Pyrrha. The faunus nodded at her, silently telling her to continue. "When we were in the airship, you didn't stop looking at Cyan. May I ask why?" Blake sighed.

"When he told us who he was... he lied. I could see it in his eyes; there was fear that he would be discovered. I just... I can't trust him. Not fully." Silence pervaded the room as team JNPR took in what she said. Even Nora was abnormally still, staring up at Blake with wide, sad eyes.

"Right!" Ruby jumped to her feet, a forced smile on her face. "Let's get some sleep; we need our energy!" Slow nods came from the others, who silently got up and went to their respective rooms. When they were all gone, the red-hooded girl flopped back onto her bed. "Yang?"

"What's up?"

"Do _you_ trust Cyan?"

"Sorta..."

"That's what I thought..." The two girls curled up under their blankets, backs facing each other. Blake and Weiss were doing much the same in their room, only with tension in the silence. Jaune and Ren were staring up at the ceiling, presumably thinking about the only male member of team RWBY. Pyrrha was following their example, while Nora was already sound asleep, dreaming hopefully of the next morning's pancakes. Outside, a blue figure could be seen amongst the branches of an old tree, staring straight up at the broken moon. His face was neutral; untelling of the thoughts swimming through his mind. He sighed, leaning back into the trunk. As he closed his eyes, a small smile flicked across his features.

 **A/N: Whoo; I had more ideas for this! Well, I actually already had plenty of ideas, just no real idea as to how to implement them into the wonderful world of RWBY. BUT, I think I've figured it out. Don't be surprised if this is the last chapter of this story for quite some time, as I still don't actually have an end to the narrative in mind; just a point I want to get to with the ideas I had before. With that said, I'll see you all next time!**


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